Giving Him Up

I returned to the Morgans’ residence. Without sparing a glance at my father, who was raging and shouting in the living room, I went straight upstairs.

“Nicole! You ungrateful daughter! Stop right there!

“For this engagement, do you have any idea how much effort I put in? And now you cancel it with a single sentence. Are you trying to destroy the Morgans?!”

I turned a deaf ear and closed my bedroom door behind me, shutting his voice out completely.

After that, I dragged out the largest suitcase from the walk-in closet and began packing with a blank expression.

I threw away the plain dresses I had bought just to suit Leo’s preferences.

I also did the same for the jewelry his mother had given me, meant to display my status as the “future daughter-in-law of the Smiths”.

Everything I had painstakingly collected, everything related to him, was tossed out.

Meanwhile, my phone began vibrating frantically, and the name “Leo” kept flashing across the screen.

I casually silenced it and flung it onto the bed.

In my previous life, I had died in endless waiting and self-torment.

With just one phone call from him, I would fly back from the other side of the world.

A slight frown from him, and I would start reflecting on whether I had done something wrong.

Now, I didn’t want to wait anymore, nor did I want to keep second-guessing myself.

After packing two suitcases, I pulled them downstairs.

When my father saw me like this, he was so furious that he nearly fainted.

Pointing at me, he shouted, “You still want to leave? If you go, what about the Smiths? Go to them right now and apologize!”

I looked at him coldly. “From the day you brought me back after my mother died, in your eyes, I’ve always just been a tool. Now that I don’t want to play along anymore, you’re panicking?”

My father was left speechless. His face turned pale, then flushed, unable to say a word.

“Y-you…”

I ignored him and continued walking out, dragging my suitcases behind me.

At the entrance, however, a black Bentley blocked my path.

The car door opened, and Leo stepped out, his expression even worse than it had been at the banquet hall.

He grabbed my wrist in one swift motion, his grip so tight it felt like he wanted to crush my bones.

“Nicole, have you had enough?

“Come back with me. I’ll pretend none of this ever happened.”

His tone carried a sense of superiority, like he was offering me charity.

I forcefully shook off his hand, my gaze turning icy.

“Mr. Smith, I believe I made myself very clear.

“Also, keep your hands off me. I find it disgusting.”

Leo’s pupils shrank abruptly.

He had probably never imagined that the Nicole who used to obey his every word and ache even at the slightest frown from him would use the word “disgusting” to describe him.

He stared intently at me, as though trying to find some flaw in my expression.

“Is this just because I left for a while?” he let out a cold laugh, his tone dripping with mockery.

“Nicole, since when did you become so petty? Sophie was just heartbroken and in a bad mood. I comforted her as a friend. What’s wrong with that?”

Sophie again.

It was always Sophie.

In my previous life, he had missed our wedding anniversary just to comfort the “heartbroken” Sophie.

He had even left me alone on the highway just to take care of “sick” Sophie.

On the very day I died in a car accident, he had lit up the entire city with fireworks just to make Sophie smile.

Looking at him now, I suddenly found it all ridiculous.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” I said calmly. “So now that I’m giving you to her, isn’t that exactly what you want?

“You should be thanking me.”

After saying that, I didn’t look at him again. I walked past the car, flagged down a cab, and left without looking back.

In the rearview mirror, Leo’s figure grew smaller and smaller. He stood there, still wearing that same expression of disbelief.